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Writing Answers to Essay Questions

Writing Answers to Essay Questions
Reading Level
     edHelper's suggested reading level:   high interest, readability grades 4 to 6
     Flesch-Kincaid grade level:   3.76

Vocabulary
     challenging words:    objective, transition, introduction, dealt, illustrate, focus, multiple, textbook, reading, writing, recall, fluff, meaning, outcome, false, likely
     content words:    Civil War

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Writing Answers to Essay Questions
By Patti Hutchison 		  
1     Here it comes; it's the end of the test finally. But you know what that means. You've come to the dreaded essay questions. You've nailed the multiple choice and the true and false questions. You're even pretty sure of your short answers. But the essays always seem to bring your grade down. How can you write a good answer to an essay question?
 
2     Good writing begins with good reading. First, read the directions carefully. Do they tell you how long your answer should be? How many points is each part worth? Do you have to answer all the questions, or can you choose to answer only a certain number? Find the answers to these questions in the directions.
 
3     Next, read each essay question carefully. If possible, highlight the verbs in the question. They will tell you what the question is asking you to do. For example, if it says to define something, it means to give the meaning of it. "Explain" means to describe, give examples, or give reasons for something. "Illustrate" means to give examples and show how they relate to the topic. To summarize means to briefly cover important ideas about the subject. Make note of these verbs so that you will answer the question correctly.
 
4     Next, make note of key words about the topic. You will need these key words for your topic sentence. For example: Name and define the key steps in the process of mitosis. For this question, a good topic sentence could be, "There are four key steps in the process of mitosis." You have used key words from the question in the topic sentence of your answer. The reader now knows that you understand the question. Now you can go on to name and define the steps.

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